The new administration in the United States will push for legislative steps to curb the “misuse of H-1B and L1 work visas”, President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee has said. Senator Jeff Sessions, who addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing for the position of attorney general on Tuesday, told the legislators that Americans should not suffer for “someone willing to take a job for less pay”.

The H-1B and L1 work visas are often used by Indian professionals from the information technology sector. If any such legislation is put in place, Indian and US companies like Cognizant, IBM and others will be the most-affected lot, according to Hindustan Times.

“It’s simply wrong to think that we’re in a totally open world and that any American with a job can be replaced if somebody in the world is willing to take a job for less pay,” said Sessions. Besides, Trump also plans to initiate an investigation by the Department of Labour into the “abuses of the visa programmes that undercut the American worker” on the first day he assumes office.

If Sessions, as the US attorney general, will head the Office of Special Counsel that handles employment practices and is responsible for the enforcement of the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. “While the office is designed to protect foreign nationals with employment visas from discrimination, it is also charged with ensuring that American workers are not discriminated against in the workplace,” he said.

Sessions, along with Senator Charles Grassley, who is also the chairperson of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have earlier brought changes to the H-1B visas. They co-sponsored a Bill, advocating that qualified American workers should be considered for high-skilled jobs before the positions are offered to foreign nationals.